Swim Meet Season
The swim meet season can really be divided into three distinct parts.
- Division Dual Meets: For five weeks in a row there will be two meets each week - one "A" Meet and one "B" Meet. This is a meet where Fairwood swims against one other team in our division. These meets are on Tuesdays and Thursdays and one will be at home and one will be away.
- Division Championship Meet, AKA "B Champs".
- All-League Championship Meets
- Senior Prelims (13 and over)
- Jr. Boys Prelims (12 & Under)
- Jr. Girls Prelims (12 & Under)
- "A Champs" for those who qualify after the prelim meets earlier in the week
"A" and "B" Meets
Several factors influence if your child will be swimming in the “A” and/or “B” meets. If they achieve a “B” disqualification time (see web site), they will be unable to swim that event in any future “B” meet. However, a child need not achieve that time to swim in an “A” meet. The decision can be influenced by the depth of swimmers in a particular age group and by the meet in which others in the family are swimming.
Your swimmer will generally swim in one meet per week. Coaches post dual meet rosters to the website on Sunday nights.
Meet Attendance
For every meet, you will need to either opt in or out on the new team website. The default is now "undecided", so you will need to either select "yes, I will attend" or "no, I will not attend". If you do no make a selection, you will not be put in a meet that week.
If you select "yes" for both the A and the B meet, this does not guarantee you will be in both meets - just that you are available for both. Based on the size of the team, there will be weeks where swimmers just can't fit in both meets. There will also be a comment section if you want to send a note to the coaches about that specific meet ie "no fly please" or "have to leave early for a recital, no free relay".
No Alcohol in the Zone of Competition
As per Midlakes Operating Plan, alcohol is not permitted within the zone of competition. (Pool rules prohibit any glass objects on the pool deck.)
Judging and Disqualification (DQ)
Competitive Swimming, like any other sport, has a set of rules and has officials to enforce these rules. Stroke & Turn Judges stand at the ends or walk the sides of the pool watching the swimmers. While it can be a great disappointment to a beginning swimmer, a DQ is really little different than a foul in basketball or a penalty in soccer or football. Obviously DQs should be avoided if possible, but when they happen they should be viewed as a learning experience. Below is an informal summary of the major rules for each stroke with some comments as to which infractions are the most common causes of DQs.
The Midlakes Swim League Website provides complete stroke briefing, whistle start procedures, relay takeoffs, and DQ information.
